Peter Bills: Super Blues keep faith to take place as European superpower
To win the Heineken Cup is one thing. But to do it in less than 40 minutes is something else entirely.
Leinster did it in Cardiff yesterday, clinching their second Heineken Cup in three years. And in doing so, they entered the pantheon of the Heineken greats, true champions whose exploits had sane men and women standing on their feet, roaring and shaking with excitement.
This was a classic, almost certainly the greatest comeback in Heineken Cup history, especially in a final. From the depths of half-time despair at 22-6 down to the dancing delight of a compelling 33-22 victory and that champagne moment, Leinster showed themselves worthy champions.
In footballing terms, it was Liverpool v AC Milan in the Champions League final all over again. Milan, 3-0 up at the break, were stunned and shocked that Istanbul night by Liverpool's roaring comeback in 2005. It was a similar tale at Cardiff yesterday.
Northampton were so far in front at half-time, a smug expression on their faces at their lead, and had been so superior before the interval that there appeared no road back for Leinster.
Maybe it was the self-satisfied grins on a couple of Saints players' faces. Or maybe it was just sheer, naked pride. But Leinster were unrecognisable in the second half. Even Brian O'Driscoll shook with the excitement of the moment. "It was an amazing comeback," he agreed.
"Some important words were said at half-time, about spirit, courage and self-belief. Jonny Sexton said that we had to keep believing. We had made so many mistakes in the first half, but we knew we could play so much better than that. We also knew we had to cut out the errors and start holding onto the ball which we had not been able to do in the first half, if we wanted to claw our way back into it."
Sexton admitted that half-time had been a seminal moment. "We were shell-shocked by what had happened in the first half. But we said to ourselves, we had to keep believing this was going to be our day and we could come back. We knew we were good enough if we lifted our game individually and collectively."
Leinster coach Joe Schmidt had the rolled-up sleeves look of a master craftsman finally satisfied at the product of his labours. Schmidt has been a breath of fresh air to staid, stale northern hemisphere rugby this season. He has preached a fluid, rapid game of continuity, ball handling and high skills.
Frankly, his team could not have been further from that goal in a dismal first half. But what Leinster produced after half-time was not only a ringing endorsement of Schmidt's beliefs and values, but a wonderful re-affirmation of the high-quality rugby that northern hemisphere players can achieve, given the proper direction and right philosophy of their coach.
"What happened in the first half made it really challenging for us," said Schmidt. "But we worked a bit of magic on them at half-time. Not just the coaches but the players on themselves. I am immensely proud of them. We worked really hard to be competitive and we were at last in the second half."
But Schmidt admitted it had been a tortuous first 40 minutes. "At half-time, we took a couple of minutes to recover from the mental anguish of what we had been through. But we got together and said, if we hold onto the ball, there are opportunities out there and we could start exploiting them. We broke their line a few times in the first half but couldn't hold into the ball."
And what of Sexton, who masterminded the comeback with a consummate display of running, kicking and decision- making? Schmidt said: "He directs us so well. He brings his great kicking game, but he varies it so well. He is a tremendous player."
Flanker Sean O'Brien, just a whisker behind Sexton in the man-of-the-match stakes, said: "We had a chat at half-time but stuck to our game plan. We knew we had to hold onto the ball and run at them. But we never doubted ourselves and we didn't panic, even at half-time."
Northampton coach Jim Mallinder paid tribute to Leinster and said: "We were tired at half-time, you could see some really tired bodies in there.
"But all credit to Leinster, they are a quality side and they showed it in the second half. We told the boys they had to keep playing in the second half but the reality was, Leinster took the game away from us. You can't make mistakes against a quality side like Leinster. But I feel absolute pride in my team. We gave it a really good shot but just couldn't quite finish it off."
- Peter Bills at the Millennium Stadium
